John Stanley "Stan" Hansen II[1] (born August 29, 1949)[1] is an American actor, author and retired professional wrestler. Hansen is renowned for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesight.[5][11] He is also known for his gimmick as a loud, violent cowboy who wanted to fight everybody,[8][9] which he further emphasized by appearing in interviews with a cowboy hat, leather vest and bullrope while often chewing on tobacco.[10][12] Considered to be among the most successful and popular gaijins in professional wrestling history, Hansen became more well known and revered in Japan than in his native United States.[8][9] Despite this, Hansen still found championship success in both countries.

Hansen competed in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1985 to 1986. He won the World Heavyweight Championship on December 29, 1985, from Rick Martel.[4] On June 29, 1986, he no-showed a title defense against the number one contender Nick Bockwinkel due to disagreements with management, forcing the AWA to default the title to Bockwinkel.[5] Rumors suggest that Hansen was actually in the building that evening and had been informed by AWA promoter Verne Gagne of the pending loss to Bockwinkel. Hansen allegedly called All Japan Pro Wrestling president Giant Baba to ask if losing the championship was acceptable, but Baba had already lined up challengers for Hansen and did not permit Hansen to drop the championship. In the end, Hansen refused to drop the title to Bockwinkel and was stripped of the championship; Bockwinkel was given one of the tag team belts, which was then billed as the AWA World Heavyweight Championship due to Hansen still possessing the true title belt. Hansen immediately returned to Japan and defended the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, despite being stripped of it.[4][13] The AWA threatened legal action if Hansen continued to carry the belt and refer to himself as the organization's champion, so Hansen responded by running over the belt with his truck and mailing it back with the mud tracks still on it.[4][5][13] This chain of events was reviewed in an interview with Hansen at an NWA Legends convention, in which he expressed regret over the way he handled the situation and ultimately complimented Gagne.[13]

Hansen first came to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in May 1980 doing one off shows where usually teamed and fought Bob Backlund. From November 21 to December 13, 1980, Hansen did a tour for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he competed in the first MSG league (later renamed the G1 Tag League). He teamed with Hulk Hogan, but they failed to win. He returned that April to wrestle Antonio Inoki in an unsuccessful match. He returned for several more one off shows until leaving the promotion in early 1981.[16]

Hansen returned at NJPW's Super Fight in Tokyo Dome event in 1990, where he had an infamous interpromotional match against Vader. The match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship saw Big Van Vader (representing New Japan, while Hansen represented All Japan) get struck in the eye during the entrances by Hansen's Bullrope. Both men were known to use a stiff style of wrestling, resulting in a nasty exchange where each man threw legitimate punches. The match ended in a draw, and Hansen never returned to New Japan.[17]

In addition to championship matches, Hansen also competed in other high-profile matches. At the NJPW Super Fight in Tokyo Dome show on February 2, 1990, Hansen competed in another notable match as he represented AJPW against NJPW representative Big Van Vader. This particular match became renowned for its stiffness, as Hansen and Vader repeatedly exchanged blows until Hansen unintentionally poked Vader's right eye with his thumb, which caused the eye to pop out of its socket.[4][5] After removing his mask, pushing the eye back into its socket and holding it in place with his eyelid, Vader continued wrestling Hansen until the match was rendered a no contest. As a result of the injury, Vader required a metal plate to be surgically placed under his eye.[5] On April 13, 1990, the World Wrestling Federation and AJPW held a supershow called Wrestling Summit at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, in which Hansen lost to Hulk Hogan in the main event.[18] Hansen won his first Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship by defeating Terry Gordy on June 8, 1990, and wrestled a rematch in NJPW against Vader on June 12.[19]

In late 1990, Hansen began appearing in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), feuding with Lex Luger over the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. On October 27 at Halloween Havoc, Hansen defeated Luger to win the title, ending Luger's record-setting reign at 523 days.[4][20] On December 16 at Starrcade, Hansen re-lost the title to Luger in a bullrope match. During this period, Hansen continued working tours for All Japan, teaming with Dan Spivey to finish second in the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in November and December. Hansen wrestled another rematch with Vader at the WrestleWar pay-per-view in February 1991. On April 18, Hansen and Spivey won the AJPW World Tag Team Championship from Terry Gordy and Steve Williams, and teamed occasionally upon their return to WCW. In June, Hansen left WCW and returned full-time to All Japan after a disagreement over an idea to group him with The Desperados, a trio of bumbling cowboys looking for Hansen through a series of vignettes.[13] His last WCW match occurred on June 23 in Atlanta.[21] As a result of his departure, The Desperados' angle was dropped and the trio was quickly dissolved.[13]

Upon his return to AJPW, Hansen began a major feud with Mitsuharu Misawa, during which time they traded the Triple Crown Championship between one another.[4] Following Giant Baba's death, Misawa became the new booker and quickly began de-emphasizing Hansen and other foreign talent, in favor of new native recruits such as Takao Omori and Yoshihiro Takayama.

Soon after retiring, Hansen successfully underwent surgery on his back and knees, the latter of which were both replaced.[22] After recovering, he became the commissioner of AJPW's Pacific Wrestling Federation championship governing body, which saw him appear during Triple Crown and World Tag Team Championship matches to issue proclamations of the matches.[13] In July 2007, Hansen voluntarily resigned from the position, with Hiroshi Hase replacing him.[13]

1Hansen won the championship after Ted Turner purchased Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling from Jim Crockett, Jr. and renamed the promotion World Championship Wrestling. Hansen's reign was also prior to the championship being renamed the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.